OCEAN POLLUTION CONTINUES
TO DEVASTATE MARINE LIFE
By Zoe Lin
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According to “Why The Ocean Matters” from National Geographic, “Covering 72 percent of the Earth and supplying half its oxygen, the ocean is our planet's life support system.” However, the health of our oceans are now at great risk as they continue to face the threat of pollution. Due to this problem, marine life is also being significantly affected. Ocean pollution has become one of the largest issues happening worldwide.
According to an article on WorldAtlas titled “The Causes and Effects of Ocean Pollution”, “Ocean pollution occurs through the introduction of toxic chemicals and dangerous pollutants such as agricultural and industrial wastes, oil spills, and plastic litter that runoff into nearby bodies of water.” As stated in an article from History.com titled “Water and Air Pollution”, ocean pollution first became prevalent during the industrial revolution of the mid-19th century as factories began releasing harmful pollutants directly into rivers and streams. The article also continues on to say, “In 1969, chemical waste released into Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caused it to burst into flames and the waterway became a symbol of how industrial pollution was destroying America’s natural resources.”
Over the past few decades, anthropogenic activities have been increasingly affecting the health of Earth’s oceans. As seen in an article from SFGate titled “Statistics on Pollution in the Pacific Ocean” by Rachel Nall, the Pacific Ocean is one of the world's most polluted oceans, holding an estimated 3.5 million tons of waste. Nall also writes that this is a result of rotating ocean currents known as gyres, which pull trash from coastlines and transport them into the ocean(s).
As the amount of pollutants in the oceans accumulate over time, it begins to have many devastating impacts on marine wildlife. Sea animals often become entangled in or consume harmful pollutants such as plastic, which can cause suffocation, starvation, and drowning. These toxic wastes can wipe out entire species, putting the survival of many sea creatures at the brink of extinction.
Ocean pollution not only impacts marine animals but also poses a great danger to marine flora as well. For example, agricultural runoffs pollute the oceans with an excess amount of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Although these nutrients are helpful in encouraging plant growth, excess amounts can lead to deadly consequences. According to an article from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer titled “How Does Water Pollution Affect a Plant's Life Cycle?” by David C. Laine, “Sometimes, too much growth can be harmful, as when plant-like algae bloom in polluted waters and create oxygen-depleted dead zones.” As algae blooms overrun the ocean, they consume the majority of the oxygen in the water after they die. Without oxygen in the water, it is nearly impossible for any life form to survive in the environment.
In addition, Bayside High School freshman Ellie Ngai states, “It is sad how a large percentage of our ocean has not even been fully discovered and yet we are already destroying it.” Ngai suggests that one way people can help in this matter is by “reducing the use of plastic and switching to environmentally-friendly alternatives when shopping.”
Similarly, Bayside High School freshman Crystal Lin agrees that ocean pollution is a substantial problem, stating that “statistics have shown that over one million marine animals die per year because of pollutants in the oceans.” Nevertheless, she believes that by “raising more awareness through education on the matter or advocating by making posters to highlight the severity of this issue, people will be encouraged to take the necessary actions to save our oceans.”
Furthermore, Bayside High School sophomore Christine Lin agrees that “ocean pollution negatively affects our planet as a whole and must be resolved before it is too late.” She also states that one way people can help ease this issue is by “recycling properly and avoiding littering anywhere and everywhere.”
Ocean pollution is clearly a prominent issue that signifi-cantly affects Earth. As citizens, it is our responsibility to protect our oceans and its marine species before destruction occurs and puts humanity in grave danger.
ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHITECTURE IMPROVES PUBLIC AND PLANET HEALTH
By Fiona Zhuo
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With each passing day, environmental pollution and climate change continues to take its toll on the Earth. As of 2021, more focus shifts towards finding a solution to this problem, but many remain unaware. By introducing environmental architecture, humanity has gained hope to become more sustainable.
Environmental-friendly buildings rely on resource-efficient strategies that utilize renewable resources such as air, water, and other resources (like wind) in order to conserve energy consumption and material usage. These buildings also incorporate materials that have a long life-span or are/can be recycled. Not only will these strategies benefit the environment, but will also improve the general health of the public.
Sustainable architecture such as Passive Sustainable Design requires the architect to consider thermal or light energy in order to reduce energy expenses. In Active Sustainable Design, the architect works with mechanical and electrical engineers to utilize efficient electricity consumption. Renewable Energy Systems implement systems that harness solar and wind energy. These are correlated to passive design strategies, which allows its energy to come from a source that cannot be depleted; clean, or renewable, energy sources.
Bayside High School sophomore Isabella Pena says, “I believe one of the most major environmental problems that impacts the Earth today is air pollution.” In addition, Bayside High School sophomore Matija Vukovic has similar ideas, stating that “... the energy industry’s abuse of nature” is a dilemma that society now faces.
According to an article on HMC Architects titled, “The Top 6 Sustainable Architecture Strategies for Public Building Design” by Eric Carbonnier, “Sustainable architecture is the use of design strategies that reduce the negative environmental impact from a built environment by using environmentally friendly systems and building materials during construction.” Implementing sustainable elements can clearly lead to positive outcomes in developing cities.
Bayside High School Physical Education Teacher Mrs. Bishop states, “Cleaner air will also help people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory issues lead a healthier life. If big cities were required to use only solar panels on their buildings to generate the energy needed, I believe that would help the air quality in densely populated areas.”
These ideas are supported in an article titled, “The Benefits of Environmental Architecture'' written by Ansglobal, “... examined the effects of sustainable architecture and green building features such as living walls and green roof which lead to better air quality, more green spaces to promote physical activity, and a greater connection to nature, which has shown to improve mental health.” Similar to the thoughts of Mrs. Bishop, environmental architecture could bring many health benefits alongside the environment as a whole.
However, Bayside High School sophomore Colin Choi commented, “Environmental architecture might help with the environment, but it cannot stop global warming; it will merely slow it down.”
An article from Washington Post titled, “A New Gold Standard for Green Architecture” by David Walter states, “‘In 2022, the next IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report comes out. And everyone knows it’s going to be disastrous’... At that point, there will be a shift in demand toward tougher, more climate adaptive architecture.” Although sustainable architecture can be implemented throughout society to aid the environment, the effects of climate change will only be reduced.
The main objective of environmental architecture is to reduce humanity’s destructive footprint on nature. The result of environmental destruction upon our diminishing world will be inevitable unless society begins to stray from this path of pollution and abuse.
PROTESTERS RESPOND TO
MUSLIM CAMPS IN CHINA
By Destiny White
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Since the beginning of April 2017, there has been a detention camp located in Xinjiang, China that currently confines over one and a half million Uyghurs. As seen in an article from The Conversation titled “Who are the Uyghurs and Why is the Chinese Government Detaining Them?”, the Uyghurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims who are socially affiliated with the overall area of Central and East Asia. Established by the Chinese government, this camp is controlled by the Xinjiang government and Party Committee. While China claims that these camps are “vocational training centers” required in the province to prevent terrorist attacks, this camp was created to use Uyghurs as slaves to produce famous brand products such as those from Apple, Gap, Adidas, Nike, Samsung, and Sony.
According to Save Uighur: A Project of Justice for All, an article titled “Muslims Detained in Chinese Concentration Camps” written by The Save Uyghur Campaign, states that the camp environment is far from luxurious. Inmates are forced into crowded containment rooms, with 60 people who have to take turns between sleeping and standing up throughout the night due to the lack of room. This is just the beginning of the brutality, as the article continues on to say that “Almost all of the survivors of the camps reported beating as a punishment for the most trivial of offenses. Even women have scars and marks of beating all over their bodies.” Physical torture has become the majority of actions seen within the camps, as “some report being tied to a hard chair all day long... several women survivors report being gang-raped by guards at the facilities.” Due to these horrific actions, many detained Uyghurs have died in the camp due to suicide or homicide by camp guards.
As knowledge about these “vocational training centers” has dispersed throughout the country, protests began to counteract the learned horrors. According to an article on DailyTrojan titled “Student Group Protests China’s Muslim Internment”, “More than 30 students joined the 30-minute walk from Tutor Campus Center to USC Village chanting “What do we want? Human rights. When do we want them? Now.” and “What do we want? Justice. Who is it for? Uyghurs.””
Although information about these “training centers” has become known, the DailyTrojan goes on to state that “the organization decided to bring attention to the cause after briefly studying it in international relations classes. Students were frustrated that their classes didn’t go into much detail about the injustices.” This explains that actions taken may be minimal because the subject matter has not been completely discussed.
An additional protest occurred in Hong Kong, China. According to the article on Deutsche Welle titled “Hong Kong Protesters Rally Against China's Uyghur Crackdown”, “Around 1,000 people gathered peacefully near Hong Kong's Harbourfront, waving Uyghur flags and posters... We shall not forget those who share a common goal with us, our struggle for freedom and democracy and the rage against the Chinese Communist Party, one speaker shouted through the loudspeaker to the crowd.” However, this protest was not found to be peaceful, as “police later swooped in using pepper spray to disperse protesters, who countered by throwing glass bottles and rocks.”
Besides those around the country who protested, students and faculty within our school expressed their opinions about this issue as well. Bayside High School AP Global History teacher Mr. Edele states, “It is pretty clear that this is a substantial human rights violation. The impact on people around the world is substantial. It is being carried out by one of our main economic and political rivals on the world stage as well as one of our largest economic trade partners. The reaction by those with stakes in maintaining close economic ties seems unwilling to address the situation directly. I believe that this sends the message to the rest of the world that the United States will only address certain issues when the nation committing these violations is too weak or not economically important to major US interests.”
Adding to Mr. Edele's thoughts about the United States' actions, Bayside High School English Teacher Ms. Waldman says that “it has been disheartening to see how little has been done on a global scale to intervene and help the Uyghur Muslims. As a Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, stated in his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, ‘We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered and when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.’ My hope is that leaders and people will work together to restore and protect the human rights of Uygher Muslims.”
Bayside High School freshman Jenna Tuffnell commented on the severity of the camps, stating, “I think the Muslim camps are easily just as bad as the Holocaust. They [Uyghur inmates] are being raped, forced to eat pork, and so many other horrible things. It’s going to affect islamophobia even more and honestly worsen the lives of Muslims everywhere.”
Bayside High School freshman Wen Xi Hu agreed with Tuffnell, saying, “I’m upset about the situation, because even though regardless of gender, skin, or religion we are all humans. They [the Muslim camps] are not ethical and there is a clear negative effect for those who are Muslim since they are not treated equally.”
As people continue to become informed of these “voca-tional training camps”, one can only hope that news and education will push people to change their views and actions towards Uyghurs for the better.
SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES GRAPPLE WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND CENSORSHIP
By Russell Vines
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On January 6th, 2021, the “March To Save America” rally on the Ellipse in Washington D.C. turned into a violent mob that stormed the United States Capitol. This rally was the culmination of months of “The Big Lie,” during which the President claimed the election was stolen from him and his supporters needed to take arms and “defend” democracy. Through a series of Tweets, President Trump called upon his supporters to peacefully meet at Washington D.C. on January 6th. Due to these actions and its effects, it can clearly be seen that the President's Tweets, as well as social media, is extremely influential upon people in society.
The influence that President Trump (through social media) has upon society proved fallible when congress held a joint session to confirm Joseph Biden as the 46th President. This result brought upon the belief within President Trump that his Vice President, Mike Pence, had the power to reject the electoral count and declare the winner, tweeting for his supporters to call on Pence to “do the right thing.” When the Vice President explained that doing so would undermine the constitution, President Trump tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our constitution, giving states a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. The USA demands the truth!”
Months of the president's tweets and “Stop the Steal” Facebook ads finally subsided after the January rally turned into a mob that marched on the Capitol and forced its way through security measures into the White House. Chants such as “Hang Mike Pence” echoed through the halls as a noose was erected outside and rioters armed with military gear and handcuffs further added to the violence within the Capitol.
When social media giants such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube banned the President on their platforms, there was an uproar because people in society deemed this corporate censorship and a violation of the first amendment. According to an article on Facebook.com titled “Our Response to the Violence in Washington” by Guy Rosen and Monika Bickert, Mark Zuckerberg banned President Trump from Facebook because of his belief that “the current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government. We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”
The nation is extremely divided. Some believe that these social media companies are too big and that they should be broken up or at the very least, held responsible for the content on their websites. However, others believe that there should have been better regulations and it is not the fault of the companies but its users.
Bayside High School sophomore Rafioun Jibon believes that the aforementioned social media corporations were completely justified in their actions taken to mute the President's calls for violence. Jibon states, “These corporations are definitely not violating the first amendment. I believe these private corporations have the right to ban individuals including the President as long as they violate the guidelines that were agreed to when making the account.”
Although Bayside High School sophomore Mateo Cardenas believes the social media corporations should be partially to blame, he agrees that the banning of President Trump was necessary because even public figures should be held to the same standard as ordinary Twitter users. Cardenas states, “The banning of Trump was justified because he was a major disseminator of disinformation.” However, Cardenas continues on to say, “I believe that these corporations have too much power and the government should impose more regulations on the novel tech industry.”
Furthermore, Bayside High School English Teacher Mrs. Bourgi believes that it is the duty of the government to regulate and control the power held by these corporations. Mrs. Bourgi said that “there is a reason why the founding fathers found monopolies to be a threat to the nation and cautioned against them. While I don't necessarily care for President Trump, nor endorse a lot of his policies, I don't think the social media companies have any right to censor him. It sets a dangerous precedent.”
Bayside High School Computer Programming and Web Design teacher Mr. Joseph said, “It is high time the Federal Government steps in boldly and introduces sweeping regulations to curb the spread of negativity. If necessary, large corporations that are getting “too big to fail” should be broken up into manageable entities or at least prevented from further expansion.” Mr. Joseph believes that any media platform that has the ability to disseminate information to a global audience must have a system of checks and balances imposed on them in the form of federal regulation.
Summarily, while some believe that prominent political figures like former President Trump should not be granted access to social media platforms due to the possibility of spreading harmful or dangerous content, others do not think that social media companies should have such an outsized impact on free speech, but that their monopolies should be broken up or their content be regulated by the government.
The same argument exists on the topic of whether or not to regulate these tech giants due to the idea that these corporations should not be allowed to have the power to use legal loopholes made to get out of responsibility for the content on their platforms, while others believe that corporations should be allowed to prosper as much as possible and it is the fault of their users for putting content on said platforms.
From all appearances, there is no clear right or wrong solution to the issue of corporate censorship and this issue will undoubtedly be debated for years to come.